Best Hand Held GPS for MPH

[msmeads1]

Who makes the best hand held GPS unit for MPH?
I not need maps and download features etc... Just accurate MPH.
Any recomendations?
Jon.

[Kindsvater Flat]

Garmin Etrex is best for the money. About 100 bucks or less. And it works on planes.:D
http://www.saber.net/~atthefarm/folder/pics/topspeed.jpg

[emjay]

I love my E-Trex. As K.F. said, you can't beat it for the price.
It has more features than I personally need, but it's a cool $100 toy.
In my flatbottom, we've bounced it around pretty hard, gotten it soaked,
and it still won't lie about my MPH. Also works great for calibrating
your car's MPH too. My van has oversized tires, and when the
speedo says 65, I'm already at 78 MPH. :eek: Kept me outta a few
tickets. Got mine at Fry's. If you need more info, this has been covered
a lot in older threads.

[Jet City]

I like mine too, best feature is resetable top speed, really nice tuning tool.

[Fiat48]

I'm new to these deals. So I can take one of these things with me, make a run and then it will show how fast I went? Or do I have to look at it while at speed (which is not going to happen)?

[Cousin Bob]

I'm new to these deals. So I can take one of these things with me, make a run and then it will show how fast I went? Or do I have to look at it while at speed (which is not going to happen)?
Yep... I just set mine in the passenger seat cushion with the top of the GPS pointing up, when I'm done I look at it, and it shows the top MPH.
I've also just put the GPS around my neck and let it hang down, and it works fine.

[Fiat48]

O.k. Are there any that are recordable..per say. Like a playback of a 7 or 8 second acceleration event?

[LakesOnly]

Whatever model you get, just be sure it's a Garmin brand.
Fiat, although I've never seen one like this, sanger mike tells me that some of the fancier models can even do quarter-mile times by way of marking your geographic location, and then you hit the throttle...and read the recorded time/distance data. Anyone heard of this or have one?
LO

[Morg]

One thing you have to remember about the e-trex is that you need to let it catch up to your boat. Which means for top end you have to hold it for a few seconds. The e-trex is at least five years old now. I'm sure some of the newer ones will catch up faster. At the time the e-trex was the only gps I could find that remembered top speed.
I ran one in my old flat. It really seemed acurate.
They also make a cool mount for mountain bikes. It essentially mounts to round tubing. I built a cool little holder on my steering post, with some 3/4" round that the mount fastened to. Worked out ever so nice, c'mon

[LakesOnly]

I'm new to these deals. So I can take one of these things with me, make a run and then it will show how fast I went? Or do I have to look at it while at speed (which is not going to happen)?
They record Max Speed, which is displayed/recalled at any time.
They also display constant feedback of speed, geographical location, records the path you've been travelling, shows direction (NSWE), etc. Modern day compass.
They even have Waypoints, which means you can stand in front of your house, Fiat, and hit "mark" then tear off into the sierra's with no fear of getting lost. Wife will never know where you are. :)
LO

[Fiat48]

I can see the uses. I was thinking more on the curiosity of acceleration to 1/2 track, 3/4 track. Sounds like a fun deal.

[INEEDAV]

I can see the uses. I was thinking more on the curiosity of acceleration to 1/2 track, 3/4 track. Sounds like a fun deal.
Bob
If I can ever get over to your place when the weather is above 45. I will bring a few accelerometers, a gps, and a data logger to tie it all together. Rig them in the boat and gather more information than you can deal with.

[INEEDAV]

Bob
This may be a littl emore what you are wanting..........
Link to measuring equipment (http://www.gtechpro.com/rr.html#)

[Jet City]

For those looking to buy one of the little yellow Etrex's, check out this deal from WalMart.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1533

[058]

For those looking to buy one of the little yellow Etrex's, check out this deal from WalMart.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1533
Thats still a pretty good price. I paid $80.00+ tax at a Wal-Mart store and didn't need to deal with mail order. Keep in mind as was already mention by Morg these things don't respond instantly and you need to stay in the throttle for a few seconds to allow it to "catch up" otherwise you will get something less than your actual top speed. Accuracy is suppose to be close to .25% and is great for calibrating speedometers.

[LakesOnly]

p.s.: They give altitude too. Sorry, no baro.
LO

[ME-678]

I got mine from The GPS store on line
I saved about $75 bucks over my local
stores with the accessories. I bought
the e trex legend it works fine in my
Cheyenne.

[msmeads1]

Thanks for all the reply's.
Just bought on line at walmart.
see you on the water.
jon

[Cs19]

I keep looking at that G tech Pro deal. Apperently its very accurate.Anyone ever tried one?
Im still shocked that the flatty drag guys are not running some kind of data aquisition, you could monitor more stuff than could ever imagine. you could even get some sensors on the plates to see how you plated the boat on that particular run.
anyways, Ive got a gecko garmin cheapo gps, it seems to work perfect for what I do. Next time Im getting a waterproof one though.

[spectras only]

I have the first gen G-Tech meter .It works great.What Fiat needs is the new version G-tech pro for car stuff.For a boat the garmin units are great.

[flat broke]

I keep looking at that G tech Pro deal. Apperently its very accurate.Anyone ever tried one?
anyways, Ive got a gecko garmin cheapo gps, it seems to work perfect for what I do. Next time Im getting a waterproof one though.
Chris,
What went wrong with the Gecko? I need to replace a busted Etrex, and was going to pick up the Gecko 101 as its the same price and a little smaller than the Etrex. Does it have max speed and a backlit display? I need it for the dunes as well as the boat, so PC linkability is a must for uploading some stuff.
The Gecko and Etrex appear to have the same water-resistant qualities, did yours go for a swim and subsquently die? I think they were supposed to be godo for submersion in less than 12' of water for a short period of time.
Any info would be helpfull.
Chris

[jackpunx]

I just got the Etrex.. that damm thing pisses me off.. :smile:

[flat broke]

I just got the Etrex.. that damm thing pisses me off.. :smile:
Weren't you running a GPS Gaffrig in the Stoker? If so do you notice any difference between the two as far as update times/speeds?
Chris

[roostwear]

I have an Etrex, and although it seems to work well, I think it's defective. It always reads slower than I'm going..... :D

[jackpunx]

Weren't you running a GPS Gaffrig in the Stoker? If so do you notice any difference between the two as far as update times/speeds?
Chris
I am not running GPS in the Stoker.. But its only off at most about 4mph on either side.. up to 100.. the Graffig takes a few seconds (3-5) to catch up to the speed.. I ran it against another model. I cant remember the name.. but the other one worked better.. it seemed to grab my top speed number.. I didnt have to stay there as long to get the right number.. Or the other one lied and said I was going faster.. I'll pay the extra bucks for it... :D

[77charger]

I used a garmin e trex it seems to be very good with the mph dept.Used it for the drags to get mph to compare it against the clocks it was very close usualy a little more but i held it wide open til just past the traps before starting to shut down.Also reads when it is inside a pocket(did this on my gsxr750 a run from 50mph to 160 speedo)read 147 which seems to cover the error margin on a motorcycle

[Cs19]

Chris,
What went wrong with the Gecko? I need to replace a busted Etrex, and was going to pick up the Gecko 101 as its the same price and a little smaller than the Etrex. Does it have max speed and a backlit display? I need it for the dunes as well as the boat, so PC linkability is a must for uploading some stuff.
The Gecko and Etrex appear to have the same water-resistant qualities, did yours go for a swim and subsquently die? I think they were supposed to be godo for submersion in less than 12' of water for a short period of time.
Any info would be helpfull.
Chris
It got a little wet after I blew up that jetdrive, it still works, its just that the screen is like black now, and have to look real hard to see the screen, kinda sucks, but still works, im not about to buy a new one.
I wouldnt buy a gecko, Id get something a little better, this is my second gecko, first one was defective. :confused:
yes has max speed and back lit, but you have to turn the back light on to see it, its not always on, i think thats standard.
Good luck, have a fun winter at glamis, wish i didnt seel my dirt toys and could go with you guys, but boats are expensive. :mad:
take care.chris

[flat broke]

Thanks for the heads up Chris. I'll go play with both of them in the store today as I want to pick something up before the weekend so I can pull some numbers out of the ol' Spectra this weekend if it isn't going to rain. The boat got kind of back burnered recently and I want to know what last years little changes were good for. Need to swap in a new loader and get some shims busted out so I can see what she's good for before I tear the pump apart to start on the ss impeller.
Talk to you later,
Chris

[flat broke]

I went with an 8MB etrex legend. It has some mapping functions etc that might be usefull in the dunes or unfamiliar areas.
My only gripe with ALL the handhelds is the 1second update time. It doesn't seem like it even updates that quick half the time. But the Legend has a nice screen with current speeds, max speeds, times, and distances all in one place which I've already found a little use for.
Chris

[77charger]

Coming into work today I used it in my truck to see how accurate my speedo is. Well, I was going 65 on my speedo and it showed 73 on the GPS :eek: I then went 70 and it showed almost 79 :jawdrop: Then I went 80 and it showed 90 :jawdrop:
Now I know why the cops keep running me down....lol Gotta get that damn truck calibrated....any suggestions on where to get it done in the Corona/Yorba Linda area?
get a reprogramer for your truck to correct it.maybe a shop or a dealer can do the speedo correction.But on the flip side you can use that for an excuse why you drive so slow on the way tothe aarp headquarters. :rollside: :rollside: :rollside: all this time you thought you were going 55 you were probably going 50